Cockroaches are sneaky...they try to hide using other names. How to get rid of Palmetto Bugs...or How to get rid of Waterbugs...American cockroaches or German or whatever Cockroachs. The differences between waterbugs and cockroaches and the others are just different brands of roaches. For our purposes of eliminating cockroaches, that is what this page is about, so that is what we will discuss.
Because they all live and die the same way...we use that fact to solve the problem and get rid of them.
Cockroaches are active a night, searching for food and water and beer. Yes cockroaches love their beer. Put some beer out for the roaches and watch.
Just tip toe into your kitchen or go near your uncovered garbage container...suddenly turn on the light...and you will see many cockroaches running for cover...but only if you have these home pests.
To see them at night is bad, but if you see them during the day...you are in deep trouble...because that means you have hundreds of them hiding that you can't see, PLUS the cockroaches that you do see.
Sorry to inform you, but you have so many hungry cockroaches needing food and water (and a few looking for beer), that some of the cockroaches are staying awake to search for the food and water... and they must find it during the daylight hours.
Did you know that small children are very sensitive to cockroaches and a lot of people get asthma from roaches? Asthma. Right. So roaches have to go...to give those folks with asthma one less thing to be allergic to.
WHAT DO YOU DO TO PREVENT COCKROACHES: The facts. Cockroaches enter your house, look around, and then stay because the food and water was easy to find.
If you eliminate that food and water, they will leave or starve or dehydrate trying to find it.
This means that good sanitation prevails in the kitchen and food preparation areas. It also means...clean up all food spills no matter how small...including the teenagers bedroom.
And you need to fix all those pesky leaky water faucets. Don't leave pet bowls on the floor. No dirty dishes left overnight in the sink. Caulk and seal cracks and crevices everywhere you can find them.
These are your TRAPPING or ELIMINATION CHOICES to clean them out quickly:
>>> Select the Easiest for You and your wallet <<<
- Dusting Powders: Apply insecticide in basements and under roofs to eliminate cockroaches. Other powders that are effective are silica or diatomaceous earth (garden strength). These are available to you quickly from internet web sites or at a local store.
- Residual sprays: These insecticide sprays leave a toxic film that is effective for a long time. These too are quickly available from internet pest control web sites and some local stores.
- Nonresidual sprays: These kill on contact. There are many brands quickly available on the internet as well as at a few local stores. Follow the instructions for the best and fastest results. You do want the cockroaches gone quickly!
- Flushing spray: These sprays are designed to irritate the cockroaches and bring them out of their crevices into the open so you can take action. They are also instantly available from internet web sites or from local pest control dealers.
- Parasitic Wasps: Used in non-residential buildings and gardens and farms with great success to kill cockroaches, these little wasps are likely not easily available to you locally but you can purchase them here.
- Live Trapping with Glue Traps: You can buy sticky traps that use a pheromone odor (a roach sex scent) to attract roaches to the trap. Sticky stuff on the trap holds the cockroaches firm so they can not leave the trap. When you have enough roaches on the trap, put the trap and roaches in a plastic bag and put it in the trash. Easy. Easy. In fact, these traps are what the professionals use in restaurant kitchens.
- FREE: Make Your Own Trap: You can make your own cockroach trap with a glass jar. Put 2 inches of Vaseline on the inside rim so they can't climb out. Bait the cockroaches with fresh apple or potato slices in the bottom. Dump the lucky ones out of the jar and into hot soapy water to kill them. Will it catch as many as a retail trap, probably not.
- Baiting with Commercial Products: Locally or over the internet, you can buy commercial toxic chemical gel baits that contain growth inhibitors that take some time to act. They are eaten, then excreted, and that excretion with a minute amount of the poison is eaten by another cockroach and so on...and the colony is killed. Or, you can buy commercial non toxic organic pest control products easily on the internet or to your pest control problem.
- FREE...Baiting with Home Made Baits: You can make your own baits by combining peanut butter and boric acid. Boric acid is very effective but it is very slow acting.
- Professional Services: If you are unable or unwilling to resolve your pest problem yourself, get contact information from a pest control products website on the internet. That professional will eliminate the cockroaches for you for a fee.
